Electric-lighting fixture.



W. W. DEAN.

ELECTRIC LIGH TING FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18. I913.

1,157,765. Patented 00t.26,1915.

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fl 276263077? 77. e '1 $20 M w. w. DEAN.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING FIXTURE. APPLICATION FILEI) JULY I8. I913.

1,157,765. Patented Oct 26,1915.

A 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f? 5 5.9 w a WILLIAM W. DEAN,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

BENJAMIN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COR- PORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC-LIGHTING FIXTURE.

Application filed July 18, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVILLIAM W. DEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric-Lighting Fixtures, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to electric lighting fixtures, and more particularly to fixtures for lamps employed to illuminate indicating and like instruments.

The invention is especially adapted for use with speedometer lamps of automobiles and is disclosed in that connection in this application.

One object of the invention is to provide a fixture which may be readily applied to speedometer or other similar instruments.

Another object is to provide a lamp with a combined reflector and guard which will direct the light rays upon the dial of the instrument and at the same time protect the lamp against breakage.

Another object is to construct the fixture so that it may be readily adjusted to vary the position of the'lamp relative to the associated instrument.

Another object is to so arrange the reflector and guard that the lamp may not be removed -without first removing the reflector, thereby preventing disconnection or removal of the lamp by meddlers.

Other objects are to produce a fixture having'few and simple parts, which may be cheaply manufactured and readily assembled, while maintaining high operating efficiency of the device as a whole, and which may be applied without structural changes to instruments of varying sizes.

The character of the invention will be more fully understood uponlreference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the scope of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

- In-the drawing Figure 1 is a. general perspective view of a portion of an automobile equipped with a fixture constructed in accordance with the present invention and employed in. supporting the speedometer lamp; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the fixture Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26*, 1915.

Serial No. 779,728.

and speedometer on which it is located;

F 3 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. l is a separated view of the lamp and fixture parts; Fig. 5 is a top view of the fixture, the

clamping rings being broken away; Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view of the same, the plane of section being indicated by the line 99 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partial vertical section of the lamp and associated socket; Fig. 8 is'a similar view illustrating the bayonet joint connection between the lamp and socket, and the lamp partially withdrawn; Fig. '9 is a transverse vertical section of the socket and end elevation of the included lamp, the section being taken on 'a plane indicated by the line 9-9 of Fig. 11; Fig. 10 is a similar section viewed in the opposite direction, the section being taken on a plane indicated by the line l010 of Fig. 7; Fig. 11 is an elevation of the lamp and associated socket; and Fig. 12 is a detail section taken on a plane indicated by the line 13-13 of Fig. 10.

Throughout these views like characters refer to like parts.

In the drawing, A designates the fixture which is constructed in accordance with the present invention. It is shown mounted upon a speedometer B whose bracket 20 is secured to the dash-board 21 of an automobile C. The fixture A is electrically connected by means of conductors 22 with a regulating switch D also mounted adjacently upon the dash-board 21. From this switch suitable connections are made to the battery, magneto, or other source of current supply, of the automobile.

The fixture consists essentially of the socket-sleeve 23, insulating disk 24, cap 25, conductors, 'holder or collar 26, reflector and guard 27 clamping bands 28 and 29, clamping screws 30 and 31, set screws 32, 32 and 33, and contacts 34 and 35 mounted on the insulating disk 24:. In association with these parts of the fixture proper are the conductors 22, which pass through the cap 25 and connect with the contacts 34 and 35 which are adapted to connect to the terminals 6f the lamp 36 when seated in the socket sleeve 23. These several parts are shown separated from each other in Fig. 4.

The lamp socket is made up by assembling the sleeve 23, insulating disk 24: and cap 25.

-The sleeve 23 is made up of two portions,

terial, abuts. The cap 25 fits snugly within,

the enlarged portion of the sleeve 23 and engages the opposite side of the disk 24 so that the latter is clamped firmly between it and the shoulder 37. Oppositely disposed bayonet slots 38, 38 in the adjacent end of the sleeve 23 cooperate with oppositely disposed screws 32, 32 to make a bayonet-joint connection between the cap and sleeve. When the parts are assembled, the screws 32, 32 may be screwed down tight to hold the cap in place. The disk 24 must always occupy a definite position relative to the sleeve 23, because the nub or projection 39 on the inside of the.sleeve adjacent to the shoulder 37 will allow the disk 24 to be seated only when one of the slots 40 or 41 is in line with the projection. Until this alinement is secured, it is impossible to shove the cap 25 and disk 24 far enough into the sleeve to allow the screws 32, 32 to be seated in the. bayonet slots 38, 38. The opposite end of the sleeve 23 is provided with two oppositely disposed bayonet slots 41, which cooperate with oppositely. disposed pins 42 on the base of the lamp 36. The lamp itself, which is of well known construction, is provided with a cylindrical base 43 which fits snugly into the sleeve 23. It is also provided with a. pair of flat terminal faces 44 and 45 at its inner end.

The spring, contacts 34 and 35 are each composed of a single strip of metal. These strips are bent up at one end to form terminals 46 and 47, which extend rearward from the insulating disk 24. They then extend along the rear face of the disk 24 and then forward through the slots 40 and 41, respectively, to the front side of the disk 24,

' where they are bent over and shaped at their ends so as to provide terminal contacts which will register with and yieldingly engage the lamp terminal contacts 44 and 45. Each contact strip is secured to the disk 24 by an eyelet rivet 48, which extends through openings in the strip and disk and is headed up at opposite ends. These eyelets may be internally threaded and suitable binding screws 46 and 47 inserted therein (Fig. 12). The ends of the conducting wires may then be secured under the heads of these screws instead of being soldered to the clips 46 and 47. Either set of these terminals, 46, 47, or 46, 47, may be supplied alone, or both may be furnished as shown. When the parts are assembled and the lamp is in position, contacts 34 and 44, on the one hand,

- and contacts 35 and 45, on the other, are in engagement. Theconductors 22 extend through an opening in the cap 25 and have their bared ends connected to the terminals 46 and 47. Preferably also, an insulating sleeve 49 of rubber, or other suitable insulating' material, surrounds the conductors 22 and effectively insulates them from the cap 25 of the socket.

ment of the clamping rings 28 and 29.

These latter rings are shaped so as to closely embrace the periphery of the casing of the speedometer or other instrument upon which the fixture is to be used. The ends adjacent to the holder 26 are bent up so as to fit against and lie substantially parallel to the flanges 50 and 51. A screw 30. passes through openings in the clamping band 28 and the flanges 50 and 51 into threaded engagement with the end of the band 29. By screwing up this screw 30, the parts may be securely held together, and by unscrewing it they may be loosened so that the lamp holder may be adjusted relative to the face of the speedometer. The opposite ends of the bands 28 and 29 terminate in similar substantially parallel ends, and the screw 53 passes through an opening in one of these into screw-threaded engagement with the other, so as to draw the hands into close en'- gagement with the casing of the instrument upon which they are used. The screw 53 may be of any desired length to suit the size of the speedometer casing. Quite a range in the size of such casings may occur without replacing the clamping bands 28 and 29 by bands of different sizes. This is true because the bands are flexible and by having the screw 53 of suflicient length they can be readily drawn into close fitting engagement with the periphery of the casing.

The guard and reflector 27 is of spherical contour and terminates at one end in' a substantially vertical "flange 54. This flange is adapted to seat at its lower edge into overhanging embracing lugs 55 extending forward from a cooperating substantially vertical flange 56 at the forward end of the holder or collar 26. The upper end of the flange 54 is provided with a threaded opening into which the set-screw 44 may be screwed. The upper edge of the flange 56 is provided with a cooperating notch into which the shank of the screw 33 will slip as the reflector 27 is set in position. By

the parts are in assembled position. In order to' remove the lamp, it is first necessary to loosen up screw 33 and remove the reflecto'r 27,'a nd then the lamp may be readily withdrawn. This construction reduces the likelihood of disconnection or withdrawal may also be rotated about the caslng to any desired angle or position to locate the lamp and socket in the most convenient and effective position, and that by the use of the pivotal connection at 30 the lamp and shade may be tilted with respect to the speed-- ometer, three ad ustments of the lamp reflector with respect to the speedometerbeing thus provided. This is an important feature enabling the device to be used ad- I vantageously in different locations and with different arrangements. r It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that my invention as a whole and in certain details is capable of. use in other .con-

nections than those herein disclosed and that the'disclo'sure may be altered and modified considerably without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims. Having thu'sdescribed my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device ofthe character described,- the combination with a dial indicating instrument,1o f an electric lamp adjacent to the face of said'dial, a lamp socket, suitable electrical connections with said socket, clamping members embracing said instru- 'ment, and a holder for said socket pivotally and adjustably secured to said clampm'g I members so that it may be tilted'in a plane right angles to the face of atsubstantially said instrument.

2. A device of the character described,

4 comprising an electric lamp, a lamp socket,

a holder consisting of a collar: embracing said socket and terminating 1n opposed and . nesses.

' flanges, a reflector for said lamp renrfjvably secured to one end of said holder, a pair of clamping bands, means for drawing said opposed flanges together and for securing the ends of said bands thereto with a frictional adjustment in the direction of the plane ofv having a flange at one'en'd, a reflector more orless'inclosing said lamp and terminating in a cooperating flange, embracing lugs on one of said flanges under which the other flange may be seated, and a set-screw threaded into one of said flanges through an opening in the other to securely hold the flanges together.

4. A device of the character described, comprisingan electric lamp, a lamp socket, a holder for said socket and lamp having a flange at one end, overhanging lugs extending upward from the lower edge of said flange, a reflector more or less inclosing said lamp and terminating in a cooperating flange adapted to enter-at its loweredge beneath said lugs and to rest thereon, and means for securing saidflanges togetherat theirupper edge.

5. A device of the class described, comprising an electric lamp, a lamp socket, a

holder for said socket and lamp having a substantially vertical flange at one end, a

reflector more or .less inclosing said lamp-- and having a cooperating substantially verticalflange, lugs on one of said flanges for engaging the other to support said reflector on said'holder, and means for removably securing a non-adjacent portion of the co operating 1 flanges together.

'In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in thepresence of two wit- WILLIAM w. DEAN. Witnesses: v

C. E. KANE, Anna SOLOMON. 

